The Adventures of Sam Spade and other stories

First off, this is a slim volume: 103 pages of stories (plus title page, copyright page, and table of contents, for 106 pages total). Astoundingly, the hardcover first edition, which includes an introduction, notes that this book is the compilation of three shorter previously published books. Three books, 103 pages total! This information, along with an interesting introduction by Ellery Queen, is mysteriously deleted from later paperback editions.There are seven short stories; only three feature Sam Spade. Some of the remaining stories have private detectives, but these various characters don’s have the personality of Spade. Or perhaps I, as reader, simply cannot imagine Bogart as any other P.I. besides Spade. Because the Spade stories conjure up images of “The Maltese Falcon” and “The Big Sleep,” I tended to like these tales relatively more than the remaining stories. I could see" the various characters in the Spade stories in my mind's eye..."that guy's played by Ward Bond, the villain is obviously Greenstreet," and so on.On the plus side:(1) Hammett’s writing style and precise development of characters are a step above most of the other authors of classic pulp fiction. His plots can be considerably convoluted, but his characters are fleshed out and seemingly a little more realistic than many others in similar stories from the 1930’s. In my opinion, the realistic characters are the one strongest, recurring characteristic in these stories. They more than make up for the various plot implausibilities.(2) The Sam Spade stories succeed in evoking the old films noir. It’s easy to imagine a character described in these stories as depicted by Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Elijah Cooke, or (of course) Humphrey Bogart. These tales “come to life” in the reader’s imagination, because of both the quality of writing and the experience of the old movies.(3) Not a bad story in the book. Some are, as aways, better than others, and the shortest of stories relies on an ending that is far from politically correct (if that sort of thing bothers you).(4) Not too much in the lurid style favored by pulp writers of the 1930's. There are relatively fewer bodies lying around, and far less of the "his big .45 roared with explosive violence in the small room, while the hood's machine gut spat leaden death" action scenes.On the negative side:(1) In terms of quantity, a relatively high price for seven short stories.(2) As mentioned, some plots are so convoluted that I sometimes gave up keeping track of characters and simply continued reading in an effort to get to the end. More than once, when I got to the conclusion ("It was Professor Plum with the lead pipe!") I had to turn back the pages to remind myself who Plum was, and why he might want to dent somebody.Sample generic plot: Mr. X comes to see Mr. Y, our Private Detective. Mr. X says he works with a young girl, and is worried because a mysterious man (we’ll call him Mr. Z) is stalking her after work. The girl, Ms. A, isn’t aware of Mr. Z, But Mr. X for some obscure reason is. The reader recognizes Mr. X’s story as baloney, of course, and readily concludes that Mr. X has a romantic interest in Ms. A. But then two different women (in addition to Ms. A), Ms. B and Ms C, show up, both of whom seem intent on murdering Ms. A. for different reasons independent of one another. Mr. Z is into blackmail, and even tries to get our hero Mr. Y interested in his scheme. It all works out in the end, but the entanglements and complications along the way are unrealistic, and the succession of revelations about the various characters make “The Big Sleep” seem a straightforward tale by comparison.Another, less imaginative story centers on an elderly invalid who supposedly made a fortune in Australia, but in fact spent those years in prison. Living off his relatives, who anticipate a hefty inheritance, he hops around a big house full of suspects murdering those who are about to stumble upon his mischievous actions. It’s a miniature “whodunit” with a little charm and a lot of implausible action and plot holes. "Why was the butler murdered?" is reminiscent of the question in "The Big Sleep:" "who murdered the butler?"If you seek pulp fiction in volume, “The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps” might be a better choice. It offers ~56 stories…page for page at a far lesser price than this book. If you seek quality over quantity, stick with Hammett, Gardner, Chandler, Cain, and, depending on your taste, couple other authors such Goodis and Woolrich. Finally, if a little humor in your pulp fiction appeals, check out the stories of Norbert Davis.”The Adventures of Sam Spade” is recommended reading. Just don’t expect “The stuff dreams are made of.”

I haven't read Hammett's short stories previously. He owned the style; that's for sure. Canny, sad, flawed but tough, tough-guys.

Good collection of stories. Most are Sam Spade. The last one are other protagonists and may be even better than the Spade ones. Excellent writing.

Pleasant stories to relax with before bed. But, occasionally slow moving.....all but tedious.

Another will written murder mystery adventure thriller of eight short stories by Dashiell Hammett and other authors. Each story is different with interesting characters and conclusion. I would recommend this Megapack to readers of action mysteries. Enjoy the adventure of reading all kinds of novels 👍🔰 and books 📚, 2022

Simple talk no fancy words. I followed boxing on TV every Friday as my Dad's friend was a referee as a hobby

Dashiell Hammett is one of my favorite writers, having ushered me into a seemingly realistic world of crime fiction decades ago. His novels remain touchstones but most of his early stories for the pulp magazines feature similar pleasures: Brisk dialog, no wasted words of description, a down-to-earth view of human motives. Of the seven stories here, the cynical, sardonic detective Spade appears in three and an ugly but effective private eye named Alexander Rush (is this the Continental Op out on his own?) also shows up, and those are superior to the final three pieces here. The several collections of Hammett's short stories seem to mix their contents, so if you're tempted with this one I suggest making sure you don't have these titles in his other compilations

I believe the book had five or so short stories, but one story, Night Shade, stuck with me. Your typical hard boiled detective type decides to help a damsel in distress. The girl wants a drink and the detective takes her too an "N-word Joint" and doesn't give a crap what the owner thinks. It is this racial component of the story that really makes this story stand out, especially since it was written in 1933.

I bought this despite the negative reviews complaining of typos and so on, and glad I did. There's nothing wrong with this kindle book - perhaps it's been updated - and if you like Hammett you'll like this book.

Classic.

Such great time reading the adventures of this detective. The stories always have an unexpected closure and the characteres are so well built.

If you love the character of Sam Spade then reread The Maltese Falcon these stories were written to make money and show it. Anthony E Thorogood.

Shocking how poorly-made this book is. No print on the spine, a layout that makes it look like your reading a Kindle reader.Avoid and find real book.